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Auction: 23004 - Ancient and British Coins - Featuring the 'White Rose' Collection
Lot: 495

(x) Elizabeth I (1558-1603), Second 'Restoration' Coinage, Sixth Issue [Fine Gold], Double Rose Noble or 'Fine Sovereign' [of 30-Shillings], (Pyx Period: 14 February 1585 - 30 May 1587), Tower, ELIZABETH • D .' G .' ANG .' | FRA .' ET • HIB •' REGINA • (m.m.) • Queen seated on ornamented throne with very fine latice work and pellet backing, holding orb and sceptre, flanked by double-pellet and lys-adorned pillars, Portcullis below atop ornate tressure through which it and only her crown breaks, rev. (m.m.) A • DNO .' FACTV .' EST • ISTVD .' ET • EST • MIRAB .' IN • OCVLIS • NRS, Royal Shield set atop Tudor Rose, spandrels plain, 15.16g [234.0grns], 1h, m.m. escallop (Holloway 09-09 [19 coins with this die combination recorded]; Brown and Comber A17; Schneider I, 780 same reverse die; North 2003; Spink 2529), subtle crimping on a beautifully round flan, a small die break at reverse 6 o'clock, otherwise residually lustrous and lightly toned, handsomely uniform, a really good very fine, very rare in this beautifully wholesome state

Provenance

Lt.-Col. Charles Athol Robertson Gordon (11 June 1897 - 8 July 1977)
'Property of Athol R Gordon', purchased by private treaty from Corporal McKinnon, London, January 1945

Recorded by Mr J Allan of the British Museum on 17 January 1945, with accompanying letterhead stating:


'Dear Sir, Cpl. Kimmon's coin is a sovereign of Queen Elizabeth with the escallop (shell) mintmark struck between 1584-86. Yours faithfully, J Allan'


Archival records confirm that Major, later Lt.-Col. Gordon was stationed at No. 5 Canadian General Hospital, on the Cliveden Estate, at Taplow (Buckinghamshire). Towards the end of Second World War hostilities, Gordon found himself the promotion as Medical Historian for the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps, during which time he continued his lifelong diaries that are now preserved at the Manitoba Archives. As a veteran of the Great War, much of the early prose focuses on his service on the Western Front (21 May 1916-December 25, 1916), and includes entries during his participation in the Battle of the Somme. Later volumes cover the inter-war years and his trips to The Pas in 1928. However it is the third volume which affords us the best glimpse into Gordon's situation at the time of acquisition of this remarkable numismatic heirloom. This diary covers the period 29 September 1944 - 21 February 1946, and with the assistance of Lisa Friesen, a search of these for McKimmon or a visit to the British Museum have been checked, but sadly proved fruitless. This is in large part because no entries are made between 24 December 1944 and 31 January 1945 - evidently he was too busy bothering the British Museum Coins and Medals Department! In any case Robertson's final diary provides us with the best explanation for his impromptu wartime purchase from McKimmon, for it contains a series of his personals notes regarding Shakespearean plays and how they can best be performed depending on the number of actors available. How McKimmon came to acquire such a coin is left open to speculation. Had he been convalescing at Cliveden and 'gifted a Sovereign' to the medical staff who looked after him? Or is this simply evidence of the more heady and 'opportunistic' days of soldiering on the home front during the Second World War?



The cataloguer wishes to thank the Manitoba Archives for their gracious assistance in research and access to their important archives.


Subject to 5% tax on Hammer Price in addition to 20% VAT on Buyer’s Premium.